So I fixed it. I shall explain exactly what I did in case anyone else has this problem
First off I downloaded Easy BCD then installed it. There's a variety of options in the nice big buttons on the side. One of them listed all the different boot options I had, and had a delete option. I deleted all the ones I didn't want to use (which was everything but Vista.) Then I went and chose "Reinstall Vista Bootloader".
Then I restarted my computer to make sure it worked. To my joy it booted Vista normally! ^^
I then cut & pasted the "mint" folder that was sitting on my C: drive to my external drive, just in case something went wrong. I then deleted the empty folder that stayed on my C: drive. I then rebooted again. Hey! Vista boots again!
Everything is back to normal! I now no longer have any form of Linux on my machine, it boots Vista normally again!
If I were fed up with Linux and was happy with just Vistathis is where I would've stopped.
BUT! of course I want to give Linux Mint a fair try. So I'm running it off of the LiveCD I had burnt and will probably install it to a partition on my computer later today.
AGAIN Thank you very much for the help and I hope this helps anyone else who had a similar issue to mine! ^^
My Original Post:
Hello Everyone. First some background.
I'm running the 64-bit version of Windows Vista as my main OS. I decided after using the Live CD for Linux Mint 8 that I'd like to use Linux Mint 7's "Install inside Windows" option, so I wouldn't have to worry about anything going funky. This is the first time I've installed Linux, so I have no experience using it really, other than playing with Live CDs.
Now, I'm working with Linux Mint 7 for all these issues now:
I install Linux Mint 7 KDE, the community version. (Checked md5sum btw) I then encounter the problem of YouTube being weird with the video. I don't recall the exact term for it. There's lines across the screen that make it look choppy.
And I read that the Main edition is better for new users. So I decide I'll uninstall it.
I reboot in Vista and uninstall the KDE version. I still want to use Mint so I reboot (KDE version and the boot loader were still there... KDE version didn't work. Figured I'd look it up) in Vista then install Linux Mint 7 (Main edition). (Assuming it would overwrite the KDE version or just be seperate).
Now here's the issue. I go to restart my computer and launch Linux Mint 7 Main for the first time. The boot loader still lists the KDE version... but I try the Main edition. It doesn't load. Can't find the directory (I can copy down the exact message if that would help.) So I try loading KDE, it doesn't work either. I try loading both a few times and it never works. So I come back to Vista and uninstall both. I reboot. They're still listed in the boot loader. Also the fact that the boot loader is still there is an issue. In my C: drive I also see the file folder "mint" which is taking up like 15gb (space isn't a /huge/ issue for me as i've got 1TB, but still it is annoying). I don't want to manually delete that as I think it would make it so I can't boot my computer at all. I tried using the uninstallers in the folders too and it's no longer in my Add/Remove programs. I tried installing Linux Mint 7 Main again, just to see if it'd help. It didn't.
So now whenever I start up my computer I am listed with the options of: Vista, Linux Mint KDE, Linux_Mint_Main, and (yes again) Linux_Mint_Main... None of the linux versions work (as I've uninstalled them all) but Vista works fine.
I'd like to either have Linux Mint 7 Main working as "installed inside windows" as I originally wanted or to completely remove Linux and the bootloader from my computer (Keeping Vista intact of course).
People who know what they're doing, please help!
This is a bad introduction to Linux for me, and if my stuff is still messed up I may just give up on Linux. I don't want to but it might happen.
Thanks in advance!